Greg Lynn pre-sentencing live updates: Prosecutor pushes for life sentence for Carol Clay’s killer

The prosecution has asked for a life sentence for Greg Lynn.

Now, the court will hear from Lynn’s defence barrister, Dermot Dann, KC.

Dann said he recognised this case involved the tragic outcome of the loss of two lives but reminded the court that his client maintained his innocence.

As we know, Mr Lynn’s been found not guilty of charge of murder involving Mr Hill and been found guilty of charge of murder involving Mrs Clay.

We recognise all of what’s been said today.

We recognise her passing death – murder, as found by the jury – has had a devastating impact on her family and friends.

He accepts that he acted despicably in respect to the treatment of the bodies of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay. What he did was despicable. But we say … we are a long, long way apart from the prosecution in their call for a life sentence.

We say that submission is completely misplaced.

This cannot be a case that falls into the worst category.”

The Crown is calling for Greg Lynn to be handed a life sentence, a jail term saved for only the gravest of murders.

The worst category of murderers, Crown prosecutor Daniel Porceddu said, included wife-killer Adrian Basham, baby-killer Harley Hicks, and Melbourne CBD shooter Chris Hudson.

Porceddu said Lynn had shown no signs of remorse, and any apology he gave to Clay’s family during his evidence was nothing more than “self-serving”.

“The offender went to extraordinary lengths to cover up the murder of Carol Clay. It included the obliteration of Mrs Clay’s remains. The crime committed by the offender was a grave example of the crime of murder,” Porceddu said.

“The prosecution submits the imposition of a life sentence is appropriate in this case.”

Greg Lynn is in courtroom four of the Supreme Court, listening as Carol Clay’s daughter, sister and best friend read statements to the court about how they had suffered after she vanished.

A jury found Lynn, a former airline pilot, guilty of murdering Clay earlier this year in the case of the missing campers after a five-week trial.

Following seven days of deliberations, jurors rejected Lynn’s claims that Clay, 73, died accidentally at a remote campsite in eastern Victoria. Lynn was found not guilty of murdering Russell Hill, 74.

In court today, Lynn watched as Clay’s sister, Jillian Walker, read out her victim impact statement from a video link shown on a large screen.

While he briefly looked to the roof of the courtroom, he largely remained fixed on the screen.

Alison Abbott said her lifelong friend was beautiful, vibrant, clever, and funny.

The loss of Carol is incredibly sad, and the circumstances of her death have been harrowing to hear.

No one deserves to die the way Carol died. This crime has been devastating to me because Carol was an inspiration.

I miss her enormously.”

Abbott said she had a great deal of sadness and anger about what had happened to her friend.

It felt very unfair and not in keeping with the woman Carol was and how she might want to be remembered.”

Voice cracking, Jillian Walker continued to read her victim impact to the court:

The story of what happened still shocks me. It is incomprehensible.

On top of the grief, the loss, lack of concentration ... I now have rage, disbelief and confusion.

I lost my trust in the world. Was there really people in the world who would do something like that?

The treatment of the bodies was unimaginable.

The grieving was intense, with Carol on my mind all the time and the loss of her in my life.

She had been treated abominably.

It was senseless and pointless, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is unimaginable, there is no humanity or reality in this. It made me feel sick to my stomach.

It was evil, wicked and unconscionable. This is what was done to my sister.”

Walker said she was haunted by what happened to Clay and a huge circle of people had been impacted.

It is unimaginable that her life should end this way. The suffering radiating out from this murder is enormous.

Carol lived a big life and was a life force, she is irreplaceable. I miss her terribly.”

Clay’s sister, Jillian Walker, is speaking at the pre-sentence hearing of Greg Lynn.

Reading from her impact statement via video link, she said she feared from the very beginning that “something was horribly wrong”.

“Carol was missing for two years, two very long years,” she said. “This was the most anxious, tense and alone time of my life.

“Every fibre in my body wanted Carol to return, and I went into a place of disbelief.”

Walker said she was devastated by the loss of Clay and the future they had planned.

Losing Carol was like losing half my life, half my memory, half my enthusiasm, half my inspiration, and certainly, my links to the wider community and extended family.

I miss her terribly.

There is a huge hole in my life now and will be always.”

Emma Davies has just finished reading her victim impact statement, and her aunt, Jillian Walker, will also speak to the court shortly.

Davies told the court that since her mother vanished, everything – from her work to family hobbies to paying bills and attending her children’s sports – had been made harder by what had happened.

“How dare he put me in a position where I am anxious at work,” she said.

“What he has done belies all reasonable thought and understanding.”

Emma Davies, Carol Clay’s daughter, continues reading her victim statement to courtroom four in the Supreme Court. Earlier, she described how awful it had been to write the statement because she had to revisit memories of almost five years of trauma and grief.

Here’s some of what she read:

What did happen I can only describe as a horror movie.

I’m just a regular person, from a regular family, how did this happen to us?

I will not be saying the name of the man who murdered my mother’s name.

I find it difficult to form the words of his name without feeling nauseous.

He stole my mother from me. He took her life, he took her dignity and he took her privacy.

He destroyed my mother, he burned her beyond all possible recognition.”